28 January 2014

So, on Friday, I was minding my own business, working on the computer and trying to think of something to blog about. My phone was sitting right next to me, and I got a notification that iFit was now following me. I thought to myself, "cool," and kept on working. It was the next notification that turned my whole world topsy turvy!

I seriously squealed like a little girl! Then I started shaking... when my mom came in to see what the commotion was about, I started crying while saying, "I think I just won entry to the Boston Marathon!" I kept freaking out and a few moments later my dad came in to see what all the hysterics were for, and I told him, "I think I'm running the Boston Marathon!" He gave me a hug and said, "Congratulations!" and my mom chimed in, "I thought you saw a bug..." Needless to say, it was a little surreal and crazy! I kept shaking and crying and FREAKING OUT! Then, of course, I had to notify the most amazing and supportive friends in the world - #CorralG. I sent out a text message, and suddenly the phone was blowing up - and leave it to Linzie to provide the appropriate GIF for the moment! I posted a teaser on Facebook, but wasn't ready to make it "Facebook official" because I hadn't received the email from iFit with the details. It was all still surreal to me. Of course, if you were on twitter, you knew because there was the tweet for all to see! A lot of my Facebook friends figured it out because I mentioned "well... if you've been on twitter in the last 20 minutes..." and headed over to find out what was going on. I have to say, my favorite reaction on Facebook was from a cousin, Elizabeth, who said, "WHAAAT!?!?! You go on with your bad self! Also, my friend Alison, who quoted my reply to iFit, "SEEIOUSLY!" Obviously, I was a little too excited to even allow autocorrect to fix that one!

Shortly thereafter, I had to pull myself together, because I was supposed to be meeting a friend at the movies. On my way to the movies, I had to also call my origin BRF - Jason - and let him know the news. Especially since I still have the voicemail he left me on 4/15/13 asking if I was in Boston after the bombings. I originally got his voicemail, and if I can figure out how to get it, I'm going to ask him to send me the audio of that message if he's still got it! He didn't listen to the message before he called back, and we chatted briefly about what was going on. And then of course he was like, "shouldn't you be at a movie?!" I laughed and told him I'd just arrived and that we'd touch base soon.It was a little difficult to sit still and put my phone away to watch a movie, but luckily Frozen is an amazing movie. I left the movie and went straight to another event, Martinis and IMAX at Fernbank Museum (a MUST visit when in Atlanta), and when I got home, still no email. I was a little apprehensive, but knew I just needed to wait patiently. This was a legit entry from a legit company, things just moved a little slower than I wanted.Over the weekend I knocked out my 15 mile training run, as part of my Donna Marathon training plan, and had the joy of having Jason join me for part of the run. We talked about the insanity of winning an entry to Boston, and what I would be doing to train. I had the last 3 miles to myself as I headed home and formulated a plan... I'm taking a cue from others that post a "Training Tuesday" blog post, but adding a little twist - each Tuesday from now until April 15, the Tuesday before Marathon Day, I'll be posting about how my training is going, and highlighting something that is getting me through my training. It might be about an apparel product, my shoes, nutrition, or something that I use for post-run recovery. I hope you'll follow along with me on this adventure, and hopefully learn about some amazing ways to get to the finish of 26.2 miles. Because let me tell you - I may have four marathons under my belt when I get to the start in Hopkinton, but when I cross that line on Boylston it will be like no other finish!And as I've said from the beginning - if I can do it, YOU can do it!I won an entry to the Boston Marathon from iFit. This was a waiver entry, where no qualifying time was required, but a registration fee was still my responsibility. All opinions expressed are my own. I was not asked to post, but wanted to share the excitement and my experiences getting to Boston with my readers.

17 January 2014

If you've read anything from me over the last year - the blog, my Twitter feed, or Facebook pages - you've heard me mention #CorralG over and over again. This past week we celebrated our anniversary of coming together at the start line of the Walt Disney World Marathon and it has been an amazing year.One of the members of #CorralG happens to be the Social Media Butterfly for the 26.2 with Donna in Jacksonville, Florida. Marcia is our coach and an amazing woman. Shortly after we ran together at Disney last year, she was heading to the start line of the Donna - completing the half marathon option since she was still recovering from an injury from before the Disney Marathon. She was also fundraising for this race, and I donated to her efforts and enjoyed tracking her virtually to the finish line. After being officially appointed the Social Media Butterfly for the event, the excitement built within our entire little group to join Marcia at the start of the 2014 event. Some of us went whole hog and signed up for the full, and some decided to scale back to the half. I have committed to the full 26.2 with Donna, and now that I am finally getting over this nasty sickness I've had for about two weeks, I am getting back into training. The other thing that I've decided to do, having signed up for the race while at lunch with Marcia in Chicago, is to join her fundraising efforts to help finish breast cancer. I have set a small goal of $500 this year, but I'm considering raising that goal in future years. This race and this charity is personal for me, because I have two important people in my life impacted by breast cancer. The first person is my aunt, my mom's sister, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, and successfully went through treatment and has been in remission since. The other person is my pastor - a man who reminds us that this is not just a woman's disease. My pastor was diagnosed in 2000 and successfully went through treatment, but in 2010 cancer reared its ugly head again, and had spread to other areas of the body. He continues to receive treatment, all the while preaching multiple times almost every week, and leading a congregation of over 2500 members! He proves not only that this disease is not just a woman's disease, but that you can continue to live your life while receiving treatment. He's also very honest about how his treatment is going.I believe in the mission of the 26.2 with Donna, and am so honored to run for and raise money for an organization that works hard to finish breast cancer - for women and men - once and for all! 100% of funds raised go directly to research and care. 70% to the Mayo Clinic genome (individual) research and 30% to the Donna Foundation, to help those in treatment not have to decide between anti-nausea drugs or bread and eggs for their family. From the website: "The Foundation provides temporary assistance for women and men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. In partnership with Catholic Charities, the largest social services organization in the area, recipients are screened to ensure proper stewardship of contributions. The ultimate goal of The Donna Foundation is to fund a program that focuses on early intervention, and provides regular screenings and diagnostics for women who could otherwise not afford such services. Since its inception in June of 2003, The Donna Foundation has been successful in assisting over 7,000 local women and raising over $2 million."